something like that

Lou to Squish: "Squish...tell Mommy that this isn't a totalitarianism dictatorship."

Squish to me: "Mommy...this is not a potato-ship."

Friday Nite Leftovers (The "I'm a Poodle edition")

-I got a perm so my hair would be "wash and go" for the summer cause I was sick of my ponytail (a daily occurrence at this point...seriously, some days it's still yesterday's ponytail. I don't even bother taking it out at night and doing a new one)

-I don't like my perm

-I told Squish the other day that I would make him some lemon water. The next morning he woke up telling me "Mommy, I love women. I want some women." I took me a few minutes to catch what he was talking about.

-We are leaving for the beach in a week. I'm so excited. I'm hoping that it will help take my mind off of the whole moving process.

-On the whole moving process, I'm really starting to get depressed. We have no prospects at all on selling our house and we are still waiting (week #5 now) to hear back on our offer on the house we want.

-Why do banks just want to sit on houses instead of selling them??

how do I love thee??

Oh jen, How do I love thee?? Let me count the ways

- Our kids get along great (most of the time)
-we get along great
-you always have such practical solutions
-when I threaten to shave off my horrible new hairdo, you say thinkgs like "Lets try some conditioner first and see how that goes" :)
-When the conditioner really does nothing to help my situation you lie to me and tell me it's not so bad.

Seriously???

We went to storytime at the library today. We were supposed to go to playdate at Wibef's house but the Bear was up for about an hour and a half last night with a little bit of a croupy sound so we stayed home because I knew he'd  fall asleep on the way home and naptime would be a no-go. So Squish did pretty well during the story but after it was over and the kids were playing I caught him kind of kicking his friend who was laying down. This is the second week in a row that he has done this so I went over and took his hand and told him to stop and he got so upset...also for the second week in a row. I can tell he is a little embarrassed at being in trouble in front of all the other kids, and I totally understand that but it puts me in such an awkward position as a mom. I can't not punish him just because it's embarrassing, but then I feel bad for fussing at him when he so obviously needs some comfort. So who should I be, especially in front of all the other moms there? Should I be the mom who fusses at her distraught child instead of giving him the comfort that is his most immediate need? Or should I be the mom who lets her child get away with kicking someone because he is so upset at the fact that he's gotten in trouble? Sometimes we are just in a no-win situation. I still don't know what the right answer is.

Quite a contest

So the grown ups have a competition going on who gets the best "I love you more than" from Squish.

The other Day Gaggi was cooking breakfast for the boys and he took the dish towel off the stove handle, telling her "Gaggi, I love you more than I love to take these towels down and play with them. " Which, admittedly, is a lot.

While watching TV with Pop he told him "Pop, I love you more than Dorothy loves Toto."

He told Lou "Daddy, I love you more than Santa loves to bring presents to little children"

And what did I, the mother, the constant care giver, the kisser of boo-boos and snuggler and good night kisser....what did I get??

"Mommy, I love you more than Bear loves to poop in his diaper"

I think maybe I win.

A breaskfast conversation....

....between a boy and his Dad

Lou- "Squish, how do you take your eggs? Fried? Scrambled? Poached?

Squish- "With a fork, Daddy."

Holy Crap!

So when I went to get Squish up from his nap Saturday afternoon I was met with a nasty little surprise. He went to the potty and pooped right before he went down for nap but we still sleep him in a diaper because he has a little trouble waking up dry. I walked in to get him and was hit with the smell before I saw anything. Then when I looked up I saw my stinky little almost 3 year old COVERED in poop. I couldn't even see the skin on this kid's legs. And so was his bed, and so was his floor. And so were all of his stuffed animals. I said to him "What have you done?" and his reply was "I waked up poopy, Mommy. I waked up and I squeezed real hard and I pooped in my Wibef diaper. And then I wiped it on me." (He calls it a Wibef diaper because she is the first person he ever saw wearing cloth diapers, which is what he had on...making this whole fiasco even more fun.) So I call Lou and tell him I need lots of help. He walked in the door and wretched. He never handles this stuff very well. So I had to carry Squish to the shower where Lou used the detachable shower head to hose him down and I had to scrub down the room. It took hours to get rid of the smell. Here's hoping that this mess is a one time affair, cause if here ever waked up that nasty again I may just put him by the road and let the garbage men pick him up.

Also, I got the video camer and got some footage of this even...I'll be showing it to his prom date.

Friday Nite Leftovers

- Well, it has happened. They have conspired together to work against me. Squish and Bear were playing in Squish's room the other day and when I went in I found Bear running laps up and down Squish's bed. So I brought Bear back into the "baby trap" living room so he would be safe while I fixed lunch. Squish knows how to push the ottoman to the side and escape the baby trap. He yelled "Oh no! I need my Bear!" Then he came into the living room and jail broke his baby brother. He pushed the ottoman over and ran over to bear, grabbed his had and said "Come this way little buddy, I will get you out" I'm doomed

- He also played baseball with him today. I Squish go get his baseball hat and then say "good throw Bear" and then he rad off saying "Bear needs a baseball hat too"

- It's so nice to see him playing with his little brother...too bad it never seems to last.

-We had such a nice playdate at the park today. We all brought picnic food and shared and I was so proud of Squish for sitting on the blanket until he was done eating. A playground is a lot of temptation for a little fella.

-I'm getting more and more discouraged with the whole move. I am so desperate to get out of this town but during a talk about things last night Lou and I had to face the facts that we may still be living here at the start of next school year. I hate the prospect of that.

- I'm tired and not feeling super well so I think that's all for my leftovers this week. I'm a little boring, I know

Movie Nights

When Squish was about a year old we got a DVD player for his room. It wasn't a popular decision and I knew that my other mommy friends didn't care much for the idea. But we were rocking and feeding and walking and shushing and covering our ears from the crying sometimes until way past midnight. He just wouldn't go to sleep. If he did fall asleep he woke up about 20 minutes after we put him in the crib (anyone recognizing a pattern with my kids here?) The Dr. told us to just let him cry it out, that it may take 30 or 45 mins but that he needed to learn to self soothe. His record was 3 hours, a night that I will feel guilty over for the rest of my life. So one night we got his portable DVD player out of the car and just gave it a shot. He sat quietly in bed watching the Backyardigans singalong and feel asleep on his own in about 30 mins.

Since then he has gotten his own TV and DVD player in his room (I don't have a DVD player in my room) and at Gaggi and Pops house he has a flatscreen HD mounted on the wall above his bed (I don't even have a TV in my room there!)

But the past few months we have moved from falling asleep quickly to starting Toy Story over 3 times a night. He was staying up until 9:30 or 10:00 every night and I was paying for it every day. So we have removed the movie, a process which has bee FAR smoother than I thought it would be. I forgot to turn it on one night and he had not taken a nap that day. By the time I rocked Bear to sleep and went back in to turn on the movie Squish was asleep. So we tried again the next night, and the next and the next. And now....no movie. AND he sleeps later in the morning, until at least 8:00 every morning.

We were worried about Gaggi and Pops house and if he would be so agreeable there. Gaggi put him to bed and gave him his blanket and stuffed animal and his beloved papi. Then he said "I need to see my Pop" so Pop went in to say good night and Squish made him put every stuffed animal he has in the bed. Once he was all settled Pop tried to tell him good night and go out. But Squish kept saying "I think I'm missing something Pop." Pop did well with it, he just said "I can't think of a thing" and off to sleep my little monkey man went, again with out his movie. It has made such a nice difference in his sleeping habits, but I tell you....If I had it to do over again, I would put that DVD player in his room 100 more times. My sanity comes with a price and for the last 2 years that was it.

Wonder what the price will be next......

Another birght idea

I think I'm going to do a sticker chart for Squish and his temper episodes. I understand that he is a toddler and that emotions are a very intense thing. Even as adults we don't always properly process and deal with our emotions and I can't imagine how difficult it would be for a toddler to deal with such consuming emotions as anger, fear and frustration. But we must find a better way to process through them and react with something other than screaming and hitting. We've had two really good days and he seems to light up when I talk to him about how well he's been doing so I think I'm going to try putting stickers on a chart for all of his "good choices" and when he hits a certain number he can have a special treat (a cookie, or he picks what's for dinner....something like that) So we'll see how it goes. We have not always been super committed to these things in the past but I think it may be that he was just to you young to understand the point before now.

Lou too Squish to the baseball banquet last night (the season is over, YAY!!!!) He said that squish sat across from one of the high school girls and started batting his eyes at her then asked "So, do you like nakes?" (snakes) As opening lines go...it's not the worst I've heard.

Bear had such a blast in the bath last night. Since Squish was with Daddy he had the tub to himself. I even let him out of his little mini-prison tub seat. He thought he was king of the world.

Freckles

I found Bear's first freckle this morning while I was nursing him. It's on his shoulder. So cute.

so much to say

I have not done this in so long...so I'm just going to catch myself up here with bulleted highlights of the past week or so. They will not be in order, I'm sure

-we went to the zoo today with Jen and Wibef. The boys had such a great time! Squish loved seeing the animals up close. The mam panda walked right up to where he was standing at the glass and flopped over on her belly. If the glass had not been there she would have rolled right on top of him. He thought it was so great...and I did too! Lou's favorite part was the tiger, we almost missed him but he came out of hiding right before we were about to leave. Bear was super brave and the petting zoo and would have probably ridden the goats if I would let him. Squish has started coming into a not so brave stage so he clung to me or Lou most of the time we were in there.

-Squish was SUPER well behaved at the zoo today which is a change from his normal self as of late. I thought we were coming out of the "terrible twos" and that he would start getting a little more compliant. Then the truth came out and everyone started telling me that 3 is worse than 2...and dang it, they're right. He has been so mean to me the past 2 weeks. I'd say that on most days anywhere from 50-80% of his communication with me is yelling. Even when it isn't a yelling occasion ("Squish, do you want peanut butter for lunch?" "I DON'T WANT PEANUT BUTTER NO!!!!!") Last week I ended up in the parking lot of walmart with him locked in the car (on purpose) and me sitting on the curb crying for 15 minutes. There is some serious prayer going into this situation and lots of work on my patience and understanding and discipline tactics. He is wearing me down.

-He spent the weekend with Gaggi and Pop and the break could not have come at a better time. They were having lots of work done in their yard so he went to watch the diggers and cement mixers. He had a great time. Gaggi asked Pop several times what they should have for dinner, Squish always butted in with "how bout pizza?" So that's what they had. He turned the back of Pops truck into a pirate ship and played back there for a long time and did more yard work than a toddler should ever do.... he raked, planted sunflowers, plugged grass, and worked in his veggie garden. I think Gaggi and Pop don't really like to hang out with him, they just like the free day labor:)

- Squish is still playing the "I love you more than" game. He has recently told me "I love you more than I love to wipe my tushie" which I guess makes me feel special. He told Pop "Pop, I love you more that I love to go to Pop's house" which should have made him feel VERY special.

-Bear stayed here with Daddy and me. We had a great time. Lou and I were talking about all of the work we got done and how much easier it is than it used to be. When we just had Squish we never got anything done. One of us was always "watching the baby" As in "I'll cook, you watch the baby" or "I have to pee, you watch the baby" Now that we have to, only having one around is such a breeze!

-Bear had spaghetti for the first time this weekend. What a mess! He also had his first lollipop, thanks to Jen. He seemed like a very happy camper when she broke that out for him.

That's really all I can remember. This is why I should be more diligent, you forget things too fast to only do this once every 8 days or so! I'm so tired I'm not even going to proof-read this. Hope it makes sense.